Safeguarding Children Policy

Child Protection: At SMILE 4 kids, we consider our responsibilities to protect children from abuse to be paramount. We will act on all child protection concerns, including those relating to physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect. All child protection concerns that emerge during lesson time are recorded and passed onto the designated lead to act upon as appropriate.

All staff are trained in safeguarding children and are DBS checked. All such is updated as required by relevant bodies. Designated lead for Child Protection and safeguarding is Mrs Kiran Deep

SMILE 4 kids is committed to building a ‘culture of safety’ in which the children in our care are protected from abuse, harm and radicalisation.

The school will respond promptly and appropriately to all incidents or concerns regarding the safety of a child that may occur. The school’s child protection procedures comply with all relevant legislation and with guidance issued by the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).

The Club’s Designated Safeguarding Person (DSP) is Safrina Saran. The DSP co-ordinates child protection issues and liaises with external agencies (e.g.Children, School and Families, the LSCB and LADO(local authority designated officer) Bexleyheath.

Child abuse and neglect

Child abuse is any form of physical, emotional or sexual mistreatment or lack of care that leads to injury or harm. An individual may abuse or neglect a child directly, or by failing to protect them from harm. Some forms of child abuse and neglect are listed below.

• Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child so as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve making the child feel that they are worthless, unloved, or inadequate. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

• Physical abuse can involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, drowning,suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may be also caused when a parent or carer feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes, ill health to a child.
• Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. This can involve physical contact, or non-contact activities such as showing children sexual activities or encouraging them to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
• Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and emotional needs. It can involve a failure to provide adequate food, clothing and shelter, to protect a child from physicaland emotional harm, to ensure adequate supervision or to allow access to medical treatment.

Signs of child abuse and neglect

Signs of possible abuse and neglect may include:

• significant changes in a child's behaviour
• deterioration in a child’s general well-being
• unexplained bruising or marks
• comments made by a child which give cause for concern
• inappropriate behaviour displayed by a member of staff, or any other person. For example,inappropriate sexual comments, excessive one-to-one attention beyond the requirements of their role, or inappropriate sharing of images.

If abuse is suspected or disclosed

When a child makes a disclosure to a member of staff, that member of staff will:

• reassure the child that they were not to blame and were right to speak out
• listen to the child but not question them
• give reassurance that the staff member will act on the disclosure
• record the incident as soon as possible (see Logging an incident below).

If a member of staff witnesses or suspects abuse, they will record the incident straightaway. If a third-party expresses concern that a child is being abused, we will encourage them to contact Social Care directly. If they will not do so, we will explain that the Club is obliged to and the incident will be logged accordingly.

Peer-on-peer abuse

Children are vulnerable to abuse by their peers. Peer-on-peer abuse is taken seriously by staff and will be subject to the same child protection procedures as other forms of abuse. Staff are aware of the potential uses of information technology for bullying and abusive behaviour between young people.

Staff will not dismiss abusive behaviour as normal between young people. The presence of one or more of the following in relationships between children should always trigger concern about the possibility of peer-on-peer abuse:

• Sexual activity (in primary school-aged children) of any kind, including sexting
• One of the children is significantly more dominant than the other(s) (e.g. much older)
• One of the children is significantly more vulnerable than the other(s) (e.g. in terms of disability, confidence, physical strength)
• There has been some use of threats, bribes or coercion to ensure compliance or secrecy. If peer-on-peer abuse is suspected or disclosed, we will follow the same procedures as set out above for responding to child abuse.

Extremism and radicalisation

All childcare settings have a legal duty to protect children from the risk of radicalisation and being drawn into extremism. There are many reasons why a child might be vulnerable to radicalisation,including:

• feeling alienated or alone
• seeking a sense of identity or individuality
• suffering from mental health issues such as depression
• desire for adventure or wanting to be part of a larger cause
• associating with others who hold extremist beliefs

Signs of radicalisation

Signs that a child might be at risk of radicalisation include:

• changes in behaviour, for example becoming withdrawn or aggressive
• claiming that terrorist attacks and violence are justified
• viewing violent extremist material online
• possessing or sharing violent extremist material

If a member of staff suspects that a child is at risk of becoming radicalised, they will record any relevant information or observations on a Logging a concern form, and refer the matter to the DSP.

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)

Occurs where an individual or a group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child (under 18) into sexual activity in exchange for

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• Something the victim wants / needs
• For financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator Child Sexual Exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur using technology. Definition from DfE: February 2017

CSE may occur in conjunction with criminal activity. Indicators can include the child being in possession of unexplained ‘gifts’, problematic or inappropriate sexual behaviour for their age.If a member of staff suspects that a child’s behaviour indicates CSE, they will record any relevant information or observations on a Logging a concern form, and refer the matter to the DSP.

Honour Based Violence (HBV)

Honour Based Violence encompasses crimes which have been committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and / or the community. HBV includes:

• Forced Marriage
• Female Genital Mutilation
• Procedures such as ‘Breast Ironing’
• Honour Killings

All forms of (so called) HBV are abuse (regardless of the motivation) and should be handled within child protection procedures.

Logging an incident

All information about the suspected abuse or peer on peer abuse or disclosure, or concern about radicalisation, will be recorded on the Logging a concern form as soon as possible after the event. The record should include:

• date of the disclosure, or the incident, or the observation causing concern
• date and time at which the record was made
• name and date of birth of the child involved
• a factual report of what happened (use the child’s own words if recording a disclosure)
• name, signature and job title of the person making the record.

The record will be given to the Club’s DSP who will decide on the appropriate course of action.

For concerns about child abuse, the DSP will contact Social Care. The DSP will follow up all referrals to Social Care in writing within 48 hours. If a member of staff thinks that the incident has not been dealt with properly, they may contact Social Care directly. For minor concerns regarding radicalisation, the DSP will contact the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) or Local Authority Prevent Team. For more serious concerns the DSP will contact the Police on the non-emergency number (101), or the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789321. For urgent concerns the DSP will contact the Police using 999.

Allegations against staff

If anyone makes an allegation of child abuse against a member of staff:

• The allegation will be recorded on an Incident record form. Any witnesses to the incident should sign and date the entry to confirm it.
• The allegation must be reported to the Designated Officer (DO) and to Ofsted. The DO will advise if other agencies (e.g. police) should be informed, and the Club will act upon their advice. Any telephone reports to the DO will be followed up in writing within 48 hours.
• Following advice from the DO, it may be necessary to suspend the member of staff pending full investigation of the allegation.
• If appropriate the Club will make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.